Jon Cornish cleans up at CFL Awards

Stampeders' Jon Cornish poses with Tony Gabriel after winning the Most Outstanding Player and Most Outstanding Canadian Player Awards ahead of the 101st Grey Cup in Regina on Thursday. (Al Charest/QMI Agency)

REGINA - It took 35 years, but the Canadian Football League finally has another homegrown Most Outstanding Player.

On the strength of 1,813 rushing yards and 14 total touchdowns, Calgary Stampeders star tailback Jon Cornish became the first Canuck MOP winner since Tony Gabriel won the award in 1978, pulling in 46-of-50 first-place votes to outdistance the competition, Toronto Argonauts quarterback Ricky Ray.

Prior to Gabriel, Russ Jackson is the only other Canadian to win the award, a feat he accomplished three times in his career (1963, ’66, and ’69).

Cornish, a New Westminster, B.C., product, also took home Most Outstanding Canadian — the second year in a row he’s won top Canuck — to complete the double-dip.

“I think it would be pretty cool for kids,” Cornish said of the possibility of a Canadian MOP when he was named a finalist earlier this month.